Initial Research and Filming

Today marks the start of our information-gathering regarding the project and the launch of an online questionnaire. We will also be approaching our course-mates and students on other courses about what exactly the module guide means to them. Hopefully this initial research will give us a little more direction and open up some avenues for us to follow when attempting to improve the delivery of the module guide.

We will be out and about on campus shortly with a whiteboard, hoping to grab some vox-pops from students around the campus. Lovely day for it too.

Chris.

Meeting notes and actions: February 5th

Action	Who	Progress
A blog will be set up. Once this is done we will each make an initial introductory post each – JS will make 1st post	Chris then all	Blog up. First post made!
JS to update the project timeline and add to blog	James	Done.
First considerations of questions for the online survey will be drafted on this page	Gulcan and Chris
Look into survey monkey and other online platforms in more depth to see what is the best option for us	Gulcan
Explore the ethical considerations of our survey and face to face research methods	James	No action needed for Questionnaires, though good practice and guidance applies - read here for details, especially section 5 Consent should be sought for filming from every participant. They should be given a statement to read and then sign. Read the same link above, especially sections 6 and 7.
Test out best ways of capturing the ‘open’ questions	Chris and Gulcan
Source contacts for student reps across the school	James	Current contacts not easy to get and some question over sharing large amounts of contact addresses without permission. Suggest Gulcan and Chris contact the Students Union for guidance on how to contact the reps.

Schedule

Whilst the project isn't running to the original timeline any more, the order of activities remains the same. There is now a need to pick up the pace and start to understand our problem in more detail through capturing the student voice.

First post

I have long been interested in the reasons behind students not engaging with the important information that underpins their modules: learning outcomes, assessment criteria, module aims and much more. It is because the current format of module guide isn't easily accessible? Is it because the language in which they're written is unapproachable? Or is it because students just don't feel they need to know this stuff? It's down to two brave and pioneering students to find out...!

'The Medium is the Message' is being worked on by two student researchers - Gulcan Yasa and Chris Moore - who are taking both individual and collective approaches to canvasing the student voice, exploring pedagogic research, and prototyping new and innovative ways of communicating to students about module information. The project is based around some simple questions:

• Do all students read the module guide? If not, why not?
• Are we presenting this information to students in way that is accessible and 'user friendly'?
• Would different formats of module guides lead to better, or more meaningful engagement with the information within?

The work by Gulcan and Chris will be key to hearing the student voice and improving our (the University's) understanding of how we can engage our learners in successful and meaningful ways.

This blog will be a space to collect, discuss, understand and share the work that will be carried out.